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Sports Recap
Mickey Moran of the wrestling team went 5-0 in his bouts during the week as the Bulls captured four out of five matches.
Jessica Fortman of the women's basketball team scored a career-high 21 points in UB's 78-65 win over Bucknell to complete the Bulls' nonconference schedule. Fortman, a freshman forward, was 9-of-13 from the field against the Bison and pulled down six rebounds, while nailing all three of her free-throw attempts.
Basketball
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Wyoming 66, UB 63
UB 80, USC-Upstate 66
UNC Asheville 101, UB 90 (OT)
Kent State 68, UB 63
UB took third place in the Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas, defeating USC-Upstate, 80-66, in the consolation game on Dec. 22.
UB had lost to Wyoming, 66-63, in the opening round of the tournament on Dec. 21, despite putting forth one of its finest defensive efforts of the season. The Bulls had 10 steals, seven blocked shots and forced 27 Wyoming turnovers in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
In the consolation game, the Bulls utilized a balanced attack led by Andy Robinson, who scored a season-high 18 points, including four three-pointers. Sean Smiley added 14 points with three-pointers and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
UB outrebounded Upstate, 44-36, including 19 offensive rebounds that resulted in 23 second-chance points. The Bulls committed only 13 turnovers and had fewer turnovers than their opponent for the third straight game.
Calvin Betts scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as UB closed out 2007 with an overtime loss, 101-90, at UNC Asheville on Dec. 29.
Smiley led UB in scoring with 18 points. The Bulls led for the majority of the contest, but ultimately a 49-9 edge in free-throw shooting for UNC Asheville was too much for UB to overcome.
The Bulls were whistled for 33 fouls in the contest, while UNC Asheville committed only 11 fouls.
UB opened Mid-American Conference play with a loss to Kent State, 68-63, in the M.A.C. Center on Sunday afternoon.
UB (6-7, 0-1 MAC), which has not won at Kent State in 11 tries, put forth one of its best efforts in recent years. Robinson scored 22 of his season-high 25 points in the first half to pace the Bulls early. The junior guard scored UB’s first nine points and helped the Bulls build a 13-point first-half lead. The Bulls led, 35-27, at halftime.
A Rodney Pierce lay-up put the Bulls up, 42-33, with 17:30 left in the game. Kent State clawed back and over the next seven minutes mounted a 17-4 scoring run to take a 50-46 lead with 9:23 remaining. Pierce answered with five straight points, including a three-pointer that put the Bulls ahead, 51-50, with 7:03 on the clock.
With Kent State up by one, Max Boudreau hit a lay-up that put the Bulls up, 56-55, with 2:36 remaining. However, Kent State hit a three-pointer on its next possession to retake the lead for good, 58-56, then hit 10 straight free throws to seal the victory.
After 42 days, Buffalo will finally return home to host Akron on Saturday night in Alumni Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
WOMEN’S
UMass 68, UB 60
Southeast Missouri State 67, UB 45
UB 78, Bucknell 65
UB was unable to overcome a slow start and fell to the host Massachusetts Minutewomen, 68-60, on Dec. 22. Freshman Bridgette Kendricks had a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.
In the first half, UMass was able to convert on 53.8 percent of its shots, while the Bulls struggled to score, going just 10-of-42 from the floor. Kendricks was the only UB player to score more than one basket in the opening half as UMass led by as much as 13 early in the half and took an 11-point lead into the half.
The Bulls responded much better in the second half, hitting on 16 of 32 shots, but could not cut the UMass lead to fewer than four.
The host Southeast Missouri State Redhawks used a 25-7 run over the final 13:05 of the game to defeat UB, 67-45, on Dec. 29 in the Bulls’ final nonconference road game of the season.
Senior Heather Turner led the way with a season-high—and team-high—17 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
UB shot a season-high 61.2 percent from the floor and ended nonconference play with a 78-65 victory over Bucknell on Jan. 2 in Alumni Arena. The win gave UB a 7-6 record in nonconference play, the first time since 2002-03 that the Bulls have finished with a winning record in nonconference play.
After Bucknell scored the first basket off the opening tip, UB responded with a 14-0 run, scoring the first 12 points in the paint and the final two on a pair of free throws by Turner. The Bulls led by as many as 18 points in the opening half when senior Stephanie Bennett drilled a three-pointer to give the Bulls a 48-30 advantage. UB regained its 18-point advantage and took it into the half on a layup from Tieara Jones as time expired. The Bulls led 50-32 at the break, the first time the Bulls had scored 50 points in a half since scoring 52 in the second half against Ohio on February 21, 2006.
UB increased its lead to as many as 20 points on a jumper by Jessica Fortman before Bucknell began to make a run in the game. The Bison outscored the Bulls 18-7 over the next eight minutes to cut the UB lead to nine. The Bison got as close as five with 4:54 remaining, but the Bulls went on a 7-0 run, which was capped off by a three from sophomore Ashley Zuber. After Bucknell responded with a three from Amanda Brown, Fortman and Zuber each hit two foul shots to seal the win for the Bulls.
The Bulls were led by a career-high 21 points from Fortman, who became the first UB freshman to score more than 20 points in a game since Turner did so against Miami (OH) on February 23, 2005. Fortman also added six rebounds and three assists. Bennett added 19 points, hitting 5-of-6 from behind the arc. The 19 points give Bennett 900 for her career. Turner also reached double digits for the second straight game with 16 points. She also had seven rebounds and a game-high two blocked shots.
Wrestling
UB 44, Delaware State 4
Clarion 18, UB 12
UB 32, West Liberty State 3
UB 24. Mercyhurst 6
UB 16, Cleveland State 15
UB beat Delaware State 44-4 and lost to Clarion 18-12 on Jan. 2 to begin a busy week. John Cummings, Scott Rendos, Mickey Moran and Jeff Parker each won both of their bouts in the pair of dual matches.
The Bulls’ dominating dual meet victory over Delaware State featured four forfeits by the Hornets.
Against Clarion, UB fell behind early and could not complete a late comeback. The Golden Eagles took each of the first four matches, all by decision, to take an early 12-0 lead. Cummings reversed the trend at 157 pounds, scoring a 4-3 decision over Travis Uncapher. Rendos followed with a 7-4 victory over David Cox at 165 pounds to cut Clarion's lead in half, 12-6. The Golden Eagles scored a victory at 174 pounds when Mario Morelli defeated Mike Ragusa 6-2, pushing the Clarion advantage back to nine points. Moran scored a victory for Buffalo at 184 pounds with a 6-1 decision over Scott Joseph to keep Buffalo's chances of a comeback alive, but Jamie Luckett's win for Clarion at 197 pounds guaranteed a dual meet win for the Golden Eagles. Parker finished the dual on a positive note for UB, as he defeated Roman Husam by an 11-5 decision.
On Saturday, UB swept three matches in Alumni Arena. The Bulls defeated West Liberty State 32-3, Mercyhurst 24-6 and Cleveland State 16-15. Joe Wilson,
Andrew Stella, Moran and Jimmy Hamel all posted perfect 3-0 marks for UB.
UB (6-3-1) opened the day wrestling against West Liberty State. After dropping the first match at 125 pounds, UB went on to win the next nine matches of the dual. Beginning at 133 pounds with Wilson, UB won five-straight matches by decision. Ragusa ended that stretch by scoring a major decision victory, 14-6, over Chris Gibbs at 174 pounds. Moran followed with a pinfall victory over JD Ramsey at 6:36 in the 184-pound division. After Hamel earned a victory by decision, Parker closed out the Hilltoppers with a 20-7 major decision victory at 285 pounds.
UB scored eight victories in their second match of the day against Mercyhurst. The Bulls jumped out to a big lead in the dual by winning the first five matches by decision. Mercyhurst took victories at 165 and 174 pounds, but Moran, Hamel and Parker earned victories in the final three matches against the Lakers to give UB their second victory of the day.
In the final match of the day, UB took on Cleveland State, which also had defeated West Liberty and Mercyhurst earlier in the day. Cleveland State took the early lead with a 3-1 overtime win at 125 pounds. Wilson and Stella answered for UB, earning decisions at 133 and 141 pounds respectively, to give the Bulls a 6-3 edge over the Vikings. Cleveland State rebounded to win the next three matches to give CSU a 12-6 advantage. Ragusa then earned the most important victory of the dual, a four-point, major-decision win, 16-5, at 174 pounds over J.T. Miller. Moran and Hamel followed with wins by decision to give UB a 16-12 lead heading into the final bout of the dual. CSU’s Eric Schwartz earned a 3-2 overtime victory over Parker in the heavyweight match, but UB held on to win the dual, 16-15.
The Bulls will take to the mats on Saturday as they face Northern Illinois in DeKalb in their second Mid-American Conference dual meet of the season